She says: “It is very easy to hurt those who are unprotected, and very difficult to secure their safety, liberty, and happiness”.

Gavkhar Juraeva – Tajikistan

She works for Migration and Law (ref. on Queen Mary University, London),
and for Loik.

An art historian and area studies expert by education, and an editor, writer of documentary and feature films, and political mediator by profession, Gavkhar Juraeva is devoted to serving the truth, and with it, those who suffer and need her help. In the post-Soviet period, when a bloody civil war broke out in her country, she served as a mediator and sought to protect those who suffered at the margins, on both sides of the conflict. She was forced to leave her country in 1992. Gavkhar continues her fight from Russia, her adopted home. She is a writer, editor, and critic. (Read all on 1000peacewomen 2005).

TAJIKISTAN: Migrants victims of post-Beslan crackdown in Moscow, excerpts: … Gavkhar Juraeva, head of the Migration and Law information centre, told IRIN that deportations of illegal labour migrants, including Tajiks, were not uncommon in Russia, including Moscow. “This happens every day and is a routine action. The recent terrorist attack in Beslan has led to tightened control of foreign nationals staying in the country,” she said … and: … As a solution to the situation, Juraeva said that the law regulating the status of labour migrants needed to be changed. “If the law cannot be changed then the registration mechanism should be worked out in such a way that it allows the legalisation of hundreds of thousands of these poor people,” she emphasised …

According to Russian Interior Ministry estimates, there are about five million illegal migrants in Russia, of which three million are labour migrants. “Of this figure half [1.5 million] are probably Tajiks,” Grafova estimated. However, the International Organisation for Migration [IOM] estimates that the number of Tajik labour migrants in Russia is about 600,000, while other unofficial sources suggest the figure could be up to one million. As a solution to the situation, Juraeva said that the law regulating the status of labour migrants needed to be changed. “If the law cannot be changed then the registration mechanism should be worked out in such a way that it allows the legalisation of hundreds of thousands of these poor people,” she emphasised. (full text).